Department of Neural & Behavioral Sciences

Neural & Behavioral Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine

The mission of the Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences is to develop new knowledge about the normal nervous system so that we can understand ourselves and the pathological nervous system so that we can develop new ways to treat neurological disease.

Welcome to the Department of Neural & Behavioral Sciences of Penn State College of Medicine. The department was created in 2006 by the amalgamation of the Department of Neuroscience & Anatomy with the Department of Behavioral Science. In addition to their own research programs, our faculty members have strong collaborations with many other basic science and clinical departments. We also have strong educational programs and serve as the home for the anatomy and neuroscience graduate programs that provide opportunities for both master's and doctoral students.

Colin J. Barnstable, DPhil, Chair, Neural & Behavioral Sciences

The nervous system is the organ of sensation and response that regulates and integrates all our bodily functions and behaviors, and studies of its structure and function are among the most exciting areas of biology today. The dramatic growth in techniques and knowledge in the areas of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics combined with increasingly sophisticated electrophysiological and behavioral methods are giving unprecedented opportunities to discover how the nervous system works and how it communicates with the rest of the body as well as with the outside world. As we continue to expand the department we are hiring new faculty who can take advantage of these new approaches and opportunities.